Popcorn is mass-produced for sale at movies and other events in commercial popcorn poppers which generally include an enclosed, transparent cabinet containing a tiltable kettle suspended above a catch area or platform. The kettle is heated and uncooked popcorn kernels are placed therein to be cooked and popped. Oil, salt and other flavorings might also be added to the kettle for flavoring the corn in the popping process. Once the kernels are popped, the kettle is tilted, either manually or automatically, and the popcorn spills onto the platform to be scooped up, packaged and sold to customers.
As may be appreciated, depending upon the customer traffic at a particular facility and at the point of sale, different rates of corn production may be desired. It is generally preferable to have fresh batches of popped popcorn ready corresponding to customer traffic and customer needs. Not only does a batch of popcorn taste better when sold immediately after being popped, but also the aroma of the popping corn provides an olfactory incentive for the customer to purchase popcorn. At the same time, large amounts of popped popcorn should not be left sitting in the cabinet too long, so as to possibly become stale.
To that end, it is desirable for a facility's operator to be able to control the popcorn production rate to tailor that rate to the specific customer traffic and other needs at the point of sale. Various commercially available popcorn poppers operate either by providing a selected amount of time for a load to pop, and then indicating that the load is complete, or providing a more sophisticated and accurate temperature control of the kettle such that a load of corn is indicated as finished when the kettle temperature reaches a desirable set point coinciding with completion of the popping process. Sophisticated temperature control machines, such as those offered by Gold Medal Products Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,000,318; 5,871,792; 5,743,172; and 5,694,830, generally have variable batch times for cooking different size loads of popcorn.
A facility operator will often be faced with heavy customer traffic periods, such as right before a set of movies is to start, followed by slower periods while the movies are playing. During the busy periods, the facility operator will want to increase the popcorn production rate, and thereby increase the size of the popcorn loads poured into the kettle.
As a result, it is one objective of the present invention to provide improved apparatus and/or methods to pop popcorn continuously in consecutive batches with minimal attention by an operator.
It is a still further objective of the invention to reduce the delays between fresh batches of popcorn attributable to lack of attention by the operator.
Still further, it is an objective to provide the proper and consistent temperature to the kernels as they cook to ensure proper popping conditions and to maximize the popcorn yield per unit of kernels.